


Between Battles

by CinnamonLily



Category: Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Getting Together, Hopeful Ending, I don't know how to tag this tbh, M/M, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Pre-Relationship, Slice of Life, all of the relationships above are mentions, more or less at least, well sort of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-07
Updated: 2019-05-07
Packaged: 2020-02-27 17:58:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18744178
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CinnamonLily/pseuds/CinnamonLily
Summary: Slice of life musings from Bucky and Sam's POV, and then maybe a hopeful ending after Endgame canon? Or something along those lines.





	Between Battles

**Author's Note:**

> This is my answer to Endgame. I'm a Steve/Bucky shipper through and through, and didn't like the Steve/Peggy thing in Endgame, but I understand it.
> 
> So here's what I thought happened behind the scenes and after Endgame, because this is my only other viable option.

It’d been rough, realizing you were more or less queer back then. Seeing how gay people were treated, sometimes even the part of town they’d lived in. Knowing it could be worse for those people. Swearing up and down that you would never, ever be caught _being_ one of those people

And then, then falling in love with your best friend while always keeping up the appearances of being a ladies’ man. Yeah. Sometimes Bucky thought everything that came after was a lot easier.

 

**

 

Sam still had nightmares about losing Riley. Somehow, whenever he’d had one and he met Steve on his morning run, Steve always knew. It took Sam a while to figure out that maybe Steve had nightmares about losing someone he’d loved, too. Even longer to realize that Steve might actually have two people in that category.

He’d closed himself off, after Riley. Sure, he’d run the VA groups and done everything right, but he hadn’t let anyone close. It took him much shorter time to figure out the Avengers were a loyal lot, even when they were at war with one another.

 

**

 

Bucky wondered when exactly he’d figured that he’d always play the second fiddle. That he’d never quite be to Steve what Steve was to him.

The closest he could think of was that one day when Steve had come from a visit with Peggy at the nursing home, and his eyes had been alight with happiness. How he’d exclaimed that Peggy had remembered him this time. How he’d been a completely other person for a while, until it caught up with him that those fleeting moments would last shorter and shorter time, before they’d vanish altogether.

 

**

 

Crushing on Captain America was one thing. Sam would never admit having had a poster of him on his wall as a pre-teen, no sir.

Having a crush on Steve Rogers… well, that was a whole other deal. At first, he’d thought Steve and Bucky were an item. The better Bucky got—with Steve, Sam, and Natasha’s help—the more Steve relaxed and smiled.

Then one night, at the tower, Sam watched Bucky watch Steve gaze at that damned little compass and he saw it; the misery in Bucky’s eyes.

So no, as much as Bucky was an Avenger at that point, there was this one battle he’d never win, and if Bucky couldn’t, neither could Sam.

 

**

 

Bickering with Sam was starting to feel good. Life-affirming, in a way. From the start there had been a spark of something there, in the snide remarks and sarcastic replies to pain-in-the-ass questions.

And slowly, Bucky started to let go of Steve.

It was very, very gradual, and maybe nobody else would’ve noticed.

But then Peggy passed away and Natasha took one look at him and forbid him from approaching Steve. It would muddy the waters, she said. He’d regret it, she added, and he conceded.

 

**

 

Sam could see it clearer the more time passed after Peggy was gone. Steve threw himself into the Avenger gig like never before, and that was saying something.

And then… Thanos happened, and suddenly they were in some weird limbo with Dr. Strange telling them it would be all over soon, hopefully.

They were dead, or dust, really, in their actual lives. But if the remaining Avengers managed to do what Dr. Strange thought they would, then they’d be back in time for one final battle. Or something on those lines.

It was odd, that five minutes of "WTF just happened". Somehow, Sam took comfort in having Bucky there, right next to him, equally as dusted.

 

**

 

He had a bit of time to talk with Steve before Tony’s funeral.

“I saw her, Buck,” Steve said, his eyes filling with tears. “When we went to the seventies, I saw her.”

And in that moment, Bucky knew.

So while he’d never really been close to Tony, and always been closer than was probably wise with Steve, that day, he let both of them go. Stood there next to Wanda and Sam, with Sam’s touch comforting him in ways he hadn't quite expected.

 

**

 

Steve had fixed his own timeline.

Seeing him old was… odd. But the happiness in the wrinkly features was something Sam knew Steve had earned.

Getting the shield handed over to him, realizing all the implications was… well, it blew his mind a little. His Ma would have a field day with this news.

Somewhere, Riley was laughing his ass off. He’d known about that poster—Sam had once drunkenly confessed to him—after all.

 

**

 

They sat in the apartment they shared for the time being. Sam on one end of the couch and Bucky in the other. Sam seemed thoughtful.

“What’s bothering you?” Bucky asked, taking a sip of his beer.

Sam rolled his between his palms, and Bucky could see the frayed edges of the label, always a testament of a troubled Sam.

“I don’t know. I guess all the time travel stuff. Makes no sense to me.”

Bucky huffed. “I’m not even gonna try to make sense of it. Well above my paygrade.”

“Do you ever think there’s a whole other timeline out there where things went different for us?” Sam asked, turning his gaze to Bucky.

There was weight in the question, and Bucky guessed the last few weeks after the funeral had led to this moment.

“You mean one where Steve never met Peggy and you never lost Riley?” Bucky was nothing if not a blunt instrument when it came to conversations like this one.

Sam chuckled and looked away. “Well yeah, but I meant one where we could be happy? Like what Steve seems to have now.”

Bucky thought for a while and decided to take the plunge. “Who says this ain’t it?”

Sam’s gaze snapped back to his, and a slow smile spread to his face. He looked hopeful. “Yeah, okay. I guess we’ll see.”

“Ain’t calling you Cap, just so you know,” Bucky grunted, fighting the fluttery feeling in his chest and belly.

“Deal.” Sam looked at him like he was the greatest thing, and this, _this_ was what Bucky had been missing. “Can we agree to no time traveling?”

Bucky brushed a strand of hair behind his ear and smiled slightly. “Yeah, I think we can stay right here.”

 

 


End file.
